Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to network security. More specifically, the present invention relates to a firewall that identifies unrecognized categories and learns from those categories to prevent leakage of personal data.
Description of the Related Art
Network-based data communications are useful for a variety of tasks, such as sending and receiving emails, browsing Internet webpages, browsing intranet private network portals, sending and receiving instant messages, telephone calls over voice-over-internet-protocol (VOIP) services, and video calls. However, network-based data communications can be dangerous when viruses, adware, spyware, or other kinds of malware are unwittingly transmitted to a user device. Such malware may have been inserted into a web content server by a third party attacker, or may have been injected into a data transmission from the web content server (e.g., via a man-in-the-middle attack) by the third party attacker, or may be sent directly to a client device from the third party attacker.
Typically, firewall systems accept incoming data, filter through the incoming data to identify and block potentially dangerous incoming data, and allow transmission of only data that is safe to transmit. Some firewalls also automatically perform antivirus scans or malware scans of data that the firewall has deemed to be otherwise allowable, which may further be used to block dangerous data in the event that a virus is found.
Network-connected devices, also referred to as “internet of things” devices, can include a variety of everyday devices such as light bulbs, kitchen appliances, cameras, thermostats, and cars. These network-connected devices typically receive instructions over the network that determine how they are to perform, either in the form of periodic commands or settings for autonomous or semi-autonomous operation. Sometimes these devices also transmit data back to the user, including location data, camera footage, operational log data. Some of this data may include personal data that the user would prefer not to be sent to other entities that might otherwise receive data from these devices, such as vendors and manufacturers of network-connected devices and systems compatible with network-connected devices.
Therefore, there is a need for improved firewall for protecting personal data used by network-connected devices.